The stakes of the sexual scandal that shakes the Metropolis of Bessarabia in the Republic of Moldova

A sexual scandal in which Metropolitan Peter of Bessarabia (79 years old) is supposed to have been involved comes at an important moment in the dispute between the two Orthodox churches in the Republic of Moldova. The conflict is related to the administration of places of worship in this country. Unofficial data show that the Metropolis of Bessarabia, subordinate to the BOR, would have 340 parishes, while the Metropolis of Moldova, subordinate to the Patriarchate of Moscow, would have over 1,200.

Two days after Metropolitan Petru of Bessarabia, at the age of 79, announced his retirement from office, citing reasons of health and advanced age, sexual images appeared in the online space of the Republic of Moldova in which the hierarch is said to be with another man. The Metropolis of Bessarabia claims that the decision to withdraw was made before the records appeared. Contacted by HotNews, Vlad Cubreacov, former parliamentarian and the one who represented the Metropolis of Bessarabia at the ECHR, told HotNews that the sexual scandal played a role in this unexpected resignation of the metropolitan.

“Advanced age” was invoked

In a statement published by the Metropolis of Bessarabia, subordinate to the Romanian Orthodox Church, it is stated that ÎPS Petru al Bessarabia submitted a request to retire from service on May 27, citing “advanced age, health and the desire to contribute to the good of the Church”.

The request is to be analyzed by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church in the meeting of June 3-4. Until the election of a new metropolitan, Patriarch Daniel appointed His Holiness Teofan, Metropolitan of Moldavia and Bucovina, as deputy of the Metropolis of Bessarabia.

The announcement of the withdrawal was followed by the appearance online of sexually suggestive images of the hierarch. However, the authenticity of the materials has not been officially confirmed.

Meanwhile, the Metropolis of Bessarabia insists that Metropolitan Petru's resignation request is primarily related to his age and health, but promises to respond to the sexual scandal if the images are proven to be authentic.

Vlad Cubreacov, former deputy of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, who represented the Metropolis of Bessarabia in a trial at the European Court of Human Rights in 1997, says that Petru's withdrawal cannot be separated from the scandal that broke out in the last few days. He claims that the images, if they prove to be authentic, should be analyzed by the disciplinary structures of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

“I believe that these images, if they prove to be authentic, must be subject to the strict and rigorous investigation of the Permanent Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church,” he said.

The sexual scandal breaks out before a trial with huge stakes for the two metropolises

Vasile Cubreacov draws attention to the fact that the scandal affects the image of the Metropolis of Bessarabia at a particularly sensitive moment, namely – before a new term in a process that has lasted for 17 years and which concerns the administration regime of some places of worship with historical monument status.

The Supreme Court of Justice is to examine the file regarding the possibility of the Ministry of Culture signing contracts directly with the parishes, not with the metropolitan structures.

“It is about the right of the Ministry of Culture to sign contracts directly with each parish, thus giving religious communities the freedom to choose their canonical jurisdiction. The stake is huge, with the right of use over about 800 churches at stake.

Secondly, the newly created situation, with all its unpleasant aspects, opens the prospect of a reset of the Metropolis of Bessarabia, whose leadership will have to be taken over by a new metropolitan, elected according to the rules of the Romanian Patriarchate”, says Cubreacov.

The parliamentarian also added that, in his opinion, “the election of the new metropolitan of Bessarabia will boost the missionary activity of the Metropolis of Bessarabia, consolidating Romanian Orthodoxy east of the Prut, which is still under the pressure of the old Muscovite church power structures or the crypto-Soviet ones”, Cubreacov said.

The Metropolis of Bessarabia has registered a significant expansion in the Republic of Moldova in recent years, amid the cooling of relations between part of the Moldovan clergy and believers and the Patriarchate of Moscow, after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. However, the Metropolitanate of Moldova manages over 1,200 churches, being the church with the most believers in the Republic of Moldova.